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When CEOs and CFOs Share an Alma Mater

More than two dozen of the largest U.S. companies have current CEOs and CFOs hailing from the same alma mater, according to a Wall Street Journal review of data from executive recruiter Crist|Kolder Associates. WSJ's Maxwell Murphy joins Simon Constable on the News Hub with more on this. Photo: Getty

Afterward, the University of Missouri alumni munch hot slices at Shakespeare's Pizza and map out plays—including some painful team cuts a few years ago—for their company,
Leggett & Platt Inc.
LEG -1.02%

"[We] get home about two in the morning or later, and dang it if we don't have an eight o'clock" meeting, said Mr. Haffner (Class of '74), chief executive officer.

Mr. Haffner and Mr. Flanigan (Class of '84), chief financial officer, know the success of their relationship is essential to executing the vision of the company, which makes everything from mattress springs to shelves. And though they graduated a decade apart, they say their common experiences at the university tie together the threads of their past.

The University of Missouri is among the schools with a current company CEO and CFO as alumni.
AP

"It's a little rare in corporate America for a CEO and his or her CFO to have that much private time together," Mr. Haffner said.

Leggett & Platt is among more than two dozen of the largest U.S. companies with current CEOs and CFOs who hail from the same alma mater, according to a Wall Street Journal review of data from executive recruiter Crist|Kolder Associates.

Though work experience becomes more important the closer you get to the top, "there are clearly clients in our world who [nonetheless] put a huge emphasis on educational pedigree," said Tom Kolder, Crist|Kolder's president.

While this trend spans the coasts, the connections are concentrated among 22 schools, which have bestowed one or more bachelor's degrees or master's in business administration to 285 CFOs at roughly 670 of the country's largest companies.

James Yang

The top undergraduate schools were University of Illinois, Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame. For M.B.A.s, the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, Harvard Business School and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management delivered the most diplomas to future CFOs.

In fact, Harvard's M.B.A. program ranks No. 1 for having the most power duos in office now, including at
Aon Corp.
and
AvalonBay Communities Inc.

These future executives rarely overlapped as students, and the matchups often happened years after graduating. The scholastic affinity network extends beyond the Ivy Leagues.

Simon Business School at the University of Rochester in New York handed
Efrain Rivera
and
Martin Mucci
their M.B.A.s.

Mr. Mucci (Class of '91), now CEO of
Paychex Inc.,
says Simon's curriculum emphasized quantitative analysis, which is key at Paychex because "numbers are very important for us."

Mr. Rivera (Class of '89), the CFO, said when they discuss concepts in meetings, "Some of the stuff is almost subliminal."

Of course, teamwork, debates and all-nighters also happen in the workplace, where the stakes are higher and trust is forged.

Roland Smith,
a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and now CEO of
Office Depot Inc.,
cared less about
Stephen Hare's
Harvard M.B.A. and Notre Dame bachelor's degree than he did about the time they'd spent in the financial trenches. Mr. Hare had been Mr. Smith's CFO when they turned around AMF Bowling Co. through a bankruptcy. Next, they merged but ultimately split Arby's Restaurant Group Inc. and Wendy's Co. fast-food restaurants to make them more profitable.

"Before I even took the job [at Office Depot], I realized I needed a trusted finance adviser who can finish my sentences, anticipate my decisions and say, no,' " said Mr. Smith, who snapped up Mr. Hare within weeks.

Naturally, the majority of CFOs rise through the ranks based on solid work experience and results. But certain institutions have earned a reputation for minting CFOs.

At the 500 largest U.S. companies, 55% of the current CFOs sharpened their pencils at one of the top four accounting firms, plus former Arthur Andersen, or at one or more of the 17 multinational companies known for their "finance academies," according to Korn/Ferry International.

While Korn/Ferry declined to name the corporations, other recruiters and CFOs often point to companies with complex, globe-spanning finance departments like General Electric Co.,
PepsiCo Inc.
and Procter & Gamble Co.

But then again, there are folks like
Edward Tilly,
who heads the company that runs the Chicago Board Options Exchange. He went to Northwestern University for an undergraduate degree (Class of '87), while CFO Alan Dean went to Northwestern's Kellogg for his M.B.A. (Class of '88). The school, for them, validates their belief that their values are in sync.

"When I'll try to relate something to Ed using a Chicago experience, he'll know just what I'm talking about," Mr. Dean said. "It allows us to talk in shorthand."

The two agree their favorite Italian beef sandwich can only be found at Portillo's Hot Dogs. And while they don't root for the same baseball team—Mr. Tilly is a North Side Cubs fan and Mr. Dean cheers the White Sox to the south—that's a rivalry they overlook.